In this newsletter: •  VALERIE'S TIP: The egg timer approach to procrastination
•  One-day workshop 26 May 2009: Excel Basic to Intermediate
•  BOOK RECOMMENDATION: Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of Big
•  PAUL’S QUICK CLICK: Fluorescent Lights Ctrl+Alt+H
•  PAUL’S KEYBOARD TIP: Precious shortcut secret exposed!
•  AWESOME ACCESSORY: Desktop power station

Hi everyone,

Welcome to Productivity Plus, your weekly newsletter on how to get more done in less time.

VALERIE'S TIP: The egg timer approach to procrastination
Procrastination is a bitch. It can stress you out, make you miss your deadlines and turn your work day upside down. Yet we can be so good at it. The one thing you do want to be good at procrastinating over is ... procrastination!

To help you get over it, I suggest the egg timer approach. Break down what you need to do in “chunks”, then give yourself a relatively short time limit to complete the task. When you only have a short time frame, it seems manageable – and you’re less likely to procrastinate.

It’s like when you’re on the treadmill at the gym. If you’ve only got 5 minutes to go, you can often pull through. But if there's 25 minutes left before your goal time, it can seem an eternity. Then you are more likely to think: “I’ll make up for it tomorrow.”

To help, you can get an old-fashioned egg timer (like the one pictured). My professional organiser bought me one because she heard that I was always burning my dinner. I’ll admit, I still burn my dinner but I love the egg timer and use it to help me stop procrastinating.

If you don’t want to get an actual egg timer, you can use this site that will countdown any time period that you input: http://e.ggtimer.com/



WE RECOMMEND: Small Giants: Companies That Choose to Be Great Instead of BigThis book by Bo Burlingham profiles 14 small companies that have become "giants" in their field but have resisted the temptation to grow into massive huge corporations. It’s an interesting insight into the idea that small is, indeed, beautiful and that elements of customer service and community thinking can create a unique and successful environment. It can be tempting to succumb to fast growth when you are doing well but these companies prove that you can be profitable and successful while staying just the
right size.



One-day workshop Tuesday 26 May 2009: Excel Basic to IntermediateThis course is ideal if you want to build on your basic Excel skills to get more out of the software. You’ll harness the power of Excel to double your productivity.

This workshop will help you become a confident Excel user. You'll learn:

•  
  • The essentials - you'll learn the foundations
  • We’ll discuss the "When" and "Why" to use spreadsheets before we cover the "How".
  • How to use easy formulas (such as add, subtract, multiply, divide and total numbers).
  • Navigate through menus, ribbons (toolbars) and other screen components of Excel so that you feel comfortable finding the tools you need.
    
    
  • Save time entering data.
  • Automatically fill words in a series such as Jan, Feb, Mar . . . . Dec.
  • Enter a sequence of numbers quickly such as 5, 10, 15 . . . . 100.
  • Create your own custom fills such as Small, Medium, Large or Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne.
    
    
  • Impressive charts
  • A picture may tell a thousand words, but a 3D chart says it all at a glance - we'll show you the easy way
  • Take control of your pie charts and present them in ways that grab attention immediately.
    
    
  • Professional presentation with a stroke of a brush
  • Apply colours, borders and consistent fonts quickly using express tools such as the Format Painter and predefined Themes. (Trust us, this will save you HOURS.)
  • You don’t have to be a graphic designer to make your spreadsheets look like they’ve been created by one.
    
    
  • Help your readers with "at-a-glance" visual graphics
  • Apply colour and visual effects such as green ticks for high values and red crosses for low.
  • Visually represent values with new formatting techniques. With conditional formatting you can compare values at a glance to automatically change the cell or font colour, layer a shaded bar, or include an icon.

What past students say:
"Paul's professional ability meant that each student's questions were answered completely. The course has increased my confidence and my ability to think laterally and creatively."
- Kerrie Newling

"After attending the course I learnt how to apply solid formulas to my reports and budgets that will be easy to update with minimal errors."
- Jessica Nowosad, Leo Burnett 

What: Excel Basic to Intermediate
When: Tuesday 26 May 2009
Time: 9.30am - 4.30pm
Fee: $325 (includes GST)
You will receive a comprehensive take-home manual which is a handy reference for the future.

Click here to receive a course outline. Or enrol here.
 
PAUL’S QUICK CLICK: Fluorescent Lights
When you're proofreading or summarising a printed article (perhaps for study or analysis) you will often use a highlighter to highlight the key words or the most relevant sentences.

• To instantly turn your mouse pointer into a fluorescent yellow highlighter, hold the Ctrl key together with Alt key and press H.

  That’s: Ctrl + Alt + H.
• Now drag your mouse over some text, just like you would do with a highlighter 
... and that text should now stand out from the rest.
• To turn off the highlighter, simply press escape.
• To remove some highlight, drag your mouse over the text and Ctrl + Alt + H again.
  

PAUL’S KEYBOARD TIPS: Precious shortcut secret exposed!
The shortcut I am about to show you is truly a secret that very few people know about. I'm almost whispering as I share this.
 
To create your own keyboard shortcut for any icon in the MS Word 2007 ribbon, including the ability to change an existing shortcut, follow this procedure:
(First make sure no one is looking over your shoulder)

• Hold the Ctrl key together with the Alt key and then press the Plus key on your numeric keypad (located on the right side of your keyboard).
That's: Ctrl+Alt+Plus
• Observe: Your mouse pointer has changed to this command symbol
  
• Now click on an icon in the ribbon that you would like to assign a keyboard shortcut. 
For example: Select the Insert tab sheet and then click Hyperlink.
• The customize keyboard dialogue box will appear.
 Observe the current shortcut for "Insert Hyperlink" is Ctrl+K.  Let's add the shortcut Ctrl+Shift+H.
• Hold the Ctrl key along with the Shift Key and press H.
That’s: Ctrl+Shift+H  (or any other key combination you prefer)
  
• Click the Assign button and then click Close.